Musings, rants and observations with a mainly positive spin.

Menu

The Wolfeboro Project: Take a Breath

So much to do; so little time; and so much money! Our DIY or hire-a-contractor project in Wolfeboro, NH made serious inroads this summer – mainly outside the fixer-upper. Now we figure out, what’s next?

There’s advice everywhere; from HGTV and Houzz to blogger after blogger. The approach we are taking is a combination of research and advice plus our own common sense and ideas about what we can do ourselves.

Here’s a sample of what we were able to accomplish since we settled in our house in May 2016:

replaced old sliding glass doors in living room and bedroom with French doors and stained these new doors

added water/air radon remediation system

hired a ‘bug guy;’ Dean we love you! You give great advice and have kept us virtually pest-free.

hired a septic system company to inspect and pump the system regularly

cleared away brush, leveled an area to create two parking spots

hired a plow guy for winter

remodeled guest bathroom (DIY)

painted one of two guest bedrooms & furnished both – mainly with re-purposed, used furniture (two new mattresses/box springs in twin room); furniture purchased at local antique shops, online yard sales, yard sales and friends/family

painted the main living/dining area

built new screened porch on existing section of 58-foot long deck including:

added walkway to screened porch from side of house

shored up existing deck

replaced roofing on more than half the house, plus new porch roof

replaced gutters and downspouts

replaced bay window with French doors – and stained it

replaced kitchen casement windows to screened porch with large slider window – and stained it

replaced original garage doors (1976 construction)

removed (we hope) more than 2700 square feet of Japanese Knotweed on a portion of our 1.8 acres

I am out of breath just looking at this list and we have not even begun to attack the major interior projects and of course we have to consider new siding on the house and a load of landscaping projects.

So, where do we go from here? We of course, have to consider time, budget, and what is DIY-able. Topping the DIY list is our master bathroom. The 1976 baby-blue bathroom with flowered wallpaper is large enough and what we want to do is mainly cosmetic. If money were no object, we’d probably rip everything out to the studs and start over. You know that is probably a conservative $7000-$10,000 proposition. We’re talking about having the 48-inch shower professionally painted; replacing the toilet and maybe the 60-inch vanity. The carpet has to go (Who carpets a bathroom? Answer: they did in the 1970s.).

Judging by the superb job Doug did in remodeling the guest bathroom, we can probably tackle our bathroom. We’ll likely have to hire a plumber to access the walk-in shower fixtures and who knows how difficult the wallpaper removal might be. Our goal will be to re-do the bathroom for $2500. That looks crazy seeing that goal in writing – but we can get very close to that.

Follow What's Next Brenda via Email

Who is Brenda?

Recovering broadcast radio reporter and anchor - now a PR professional specializing in content and social media management, life sure has its twists and turns. My comments range from 'how to maximize PR in your business or observations of our world, there's always something to write about.